Former Palestinian prisoner dies as a result of 'medical negligence' in Israeli custody

May 2, 2017 10:38 A.M. (Updated: May 2, 2017 1:55 P.M.)

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A former Palestinian prisoner died on Tuesday morning from medical complications he sustained during his time in Israeli custody, Palestinian Committee of Prisoners' Affairs head Issa Qaraqe told Ma’an.

Mazen Muhammad al-Mughrabi, a 45-year-old resident of the village of Abwein in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, died at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah after suffering from kidney failure, Qaraqe said.

Qaraqe said that al-Mughrabi, who was released from Israeli prison around two years ago after serving a five-year sentence, contracted kidney issues "as a result of medical negligence" while in Israeli custody.

While earlier reports by local news outlets claimed that al-Mughrabi had been on hunger strike in solidarity with some 1,600 imprisoned Palestinian hunger strikers who entered their 16th day without food on Tuesday, Qaraqe told Ma’an that al-Mughrabi had not been on hunger strike.

However, Qaraqe said that al-Mughrabi had visited a sit-in tent in the city of Ramallah in solidarity with the hunger strikers.